Background may be found in U.S. Published Application Nos. US2005/0258174 A1 and 2004/0173612. Each of these applications is incorporated herein by reference.
The subject of the invention is a container useful, for example, for the primary bulk packaging of pharmaceutical and medical device products. These pharmaceutical and medical device products degrade in the presence of moisture. Therefore, these products must be packaged in a substantially moisture-free environment throughout the product shelf life.
Consumers prefer bulk package designs that are flat and incorporate innovative, user-friendly shapes (i.e., non-round). These package designs can be conveniently placed in a pocket or purse. When a package shape is non-round, the primary sealing surfaces in the package have also been non-round.
Packages that have non-round sealing surfaces typically incorporate a gasket in the sealing area. The gasket is a compliant material that when compressed, creates a moisture-tight seal in a package sealing region. The gasket, however, is a second material that increases the cost of the overall package. Incorporating a gasket requires two-shot injection molding or a secondary assembly operation.